The long-awaited prequel to the Seven Brides series. Leigh Greenwood returns to his award-winning classic series to pen a brand-new Western romance featuring some of his most beloved characters.
First Comes Marriage…Alone in the world and struggling to make ends meet, Texas war widow Sarah Winborne will do anything to keep her two small children safe and her hard-won ranch from going under. She hasn’t fought for so long to lose everything… and if that means marrying a stranger to protect her family’s future, then so be it.
She never expected anything but a business arrangement, but something about Benton Wheeler’s broad shoulders and kind eyes awakens emotions she’d long since buried. He makes her feel beautiful. He makes her feel desired. He makes her feel like a woman again. And even though their marriage was never intended to be more than a matter of convenience, as Benton stands between her small family and the wild and dangerous West, Sarah may just realize that the cowboy she married is the love she never dreamed she would find…

Summary

A Texas War widow, Sarah Winborne needs help and with two children and a ranch to run by herself with no help. Sarah knows that she needs to resort to certain measures she isn’t comfortable with but knows it needs to be done for the sake of her children and their future. Sarah has come to the Randolph family ranch, to see help from one of his ranch hands, to marry her. She knows George Randolph has a great reputation for being honorable. She meets Benton Wheeler “Salty” while she makes her decision on who to marry. But she feels a connection to, and even though she isn’t looking for desire or passion….her heart wants Salty more than any other man. At first their marriage is one of an agreement, with no emotional or sexual entanglements. As Sarah and Salty work together with her children to rebuild her ranch. Salty finds himself becoming attached to Sarah and her charming children who are in desperate need of love and affection. Sarah and Salty discover a hidden desire for each other that develops into something more powerful.

Plot and Story Line

What a fun story this turned out to be and I was so glad to pick this one up!! I have loved and adored this series so much, and Leigh Greenwood is such a talented author and is MALE!! How neat is that! He writes some of the best romances, they are so different and well balanced. This story I would say follows right after “Rose” which is the first book of the series. This series involves seven brothers, most of whom served in the army during the civil war. These brothers are working together to build up their home again. Salty is one of their most trusted ranch hands. George and Rose are married and expecting their first baby. I really loved how the beginning of this story starts out. We see this fun family interact with Sarah and her two children. We are then taken to the moment where Salty and Sarah decide to get married and they head to her ranch near Austin. First off, the way that Salty is with her kids is simply adorable. He is engaging, protective and accepting. Her daughter is a spitfire, and determined to run the ranch and never marry. hehe Now her son, has a deformed leg and has a difficult time walking. His real father has been very abusive about his condition. However the way Salty treats him is just perfect. Sarah takes a bit more time to warm up to him. She was treated pretty badly by her previous husband, so it takes a while before she opens her heart to Salty. But one she does their relationship takes a delightful turn. I just LOVED these two together and how they connect. It was perfectly built up, and I truly had a blast seeing them slowly come together and trust each other. We have some other aspects with a dangerous villain. I truly adored the way that this was written and was so perfect to have Salty’s story after all of these years!! If you haven’t picked up this author, you should do so. This story can be read as a stand alone if needed. But get ready for some adventure, humor, and unique chemistry.

The Cover

A most beautiful cover!! I just love everything about it! The pose is so romantic, I love the sunset in the background with the sunflowers and her dress is the perfect touch.

Overall View

No One But You is a perfect addition to a wonderful series….a story of discovery, passion and a slow burn romance. A win for the perfect family oriented series.

About Leigh Greenwood

Okay, let's get the hard stuff out of the way right up front. Leigh is a man! I know men aren't supposed to write romance, but I do and I don't intend to quit. It's fun.

If you're still mad, you can blame it on my wife. I wouldn't have known what romance was if, after I got married in 1972, romances hadn't started collecting all over the house. They were everywhere I looked, in the den, on the kitchen table, in the living room, stacked along one whole wall in the bedroom, even in the bathroom. When my wife wasn't cooking or taking care of the children, she was reading a romance. I admit I was a little supercilious about her choice of reading material. After all, I was reading Dickens, Hemingway, Austen, the classics! I started calling them her "sin, lust, and passion" books. I said it so often my daughter started calling them Mommy's "celeste" passion books. I thought it was funny. My wife didn't. One day, after what I’m certain was a typically condescending remark (you have to understand I'd never read a romance, just looked at the covers and made a snap judgment), she threw a book at me and told me to read it or shut up.

Being an obedient husband (my wife's expletive deleted!), I read the book. It was Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades. I loved it. To this day it's one of my favorite books. Being thoroughly hooked, I searched new and used bookstores until I'd collected every book Georgette Heyer ever wrote. After reading them all several times, I asked my wife to suggest some other books. Since I have a minor in history, she started me on a diet of the icons of early historical romance, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Rosemary Rogers, Jennifer Blake, Bertrice Small, and Johanna Lindsey. By now I was completely addicted.

Somewhere along the line, I read that women could make decent money (more than I could as a music teacher) writing historicals, so I tried to get my wife to write one. She told me she couldn't write, that I ought to write one. I said I couldn't think of a plot. This went back and forth for some time until I said if she'd give me a plot, I'd write a book. She said, "I've lost everything." It wasn't a plot, but it must have been enough. I sat down and started writing. 889 pages later, I had finished my first romance. A badly overwritten romance, but a book nonetheless.

I didn't know much about writing, and nothing at all about the romance market, so I had to write two more books and join Romance Writers of America before I knew enough to sell my first book. Wyoming Wildfire was published by Zebra in 1987. Since then I’ve written 45 more books and four novellas.

Unfortunately, after thirty-six years of marriage, my wife and I divorced. Even though it was amicable, it has been a difficult adjustment. House-hunting and moving from a home I’d occupied for twenty-seven years was no fun, but that’s behind me. My ex-wife is an excellent cook so I gave up cooking once we were married. Now I find that not only do I enjoy it, I’m good at it. In fact, I find myself standing over a simmering sauce or making soup to freeze when I should be writing. I’ve also come to a greater appreciation of what it takes to prepare tasty and interesting meals day after day, but you’re not likely to see any of that in my books. I haven’t written much about cooking since I got letters from readers after Wyoming Wildfire came out complaining that the heroine spent too much time in the kitchen.

I recently celebrated my 70th birthday so I call writing my mid-life crisis career. I have a BA in Voice and an MA in Musicology from the University of North Carolina. I taught music in schools and/or was an organist/choir director in churches for thirty-two years before retiring to write full time. I have three grown children (notice I didn't say mature or responsible!) who are momentarily occupying distant parts of these United States. I enjoy gardening and singing in both church and community choirs. I have just welcomed a beautiful grandson, and a granddaughter is on the way. Now if I can just live long enough to tell them stories about their parents.